President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden went to Florida Thursday, where they announced $8 billion in new federal stimulus grants for high-speed rail projects across the nation. About $150 million will go to Upstate New York for work that includes a new Capital District rail line, and train station renovations in Buffalo and Rochester.

The absence of any cash for greater Syracuse left our U.S. senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, questioning the fairness of the overall allocation, and wondering out loud why Central New York wasn't included.

Yet some officials involved with the High Speed Rail NY Coalition, a group dedicated to streamlining rail travel between Albany and Buffalo - and thus to New York - didn't seem as worried. They said every Upstate community will benefit from the rail line improvements.

The whole deal thoroughly confused me. I'm one of many travelers who would gladly embrace a high-speed Upstate line. I love going to New York City, although
flying there can be expensive and maddening. As for driving, you can
reach one of the bridges to New York in a bit more than four hours, which leads to the delusion that you'll soon be in the city.

Reality hits once you confront bridge traffic, a time-consuming trial that always ends with the sting of parking fees in Manhattan.

While those factors leave rail service as a far more gentle option, thequickest train from Syracuse to New York takes about 5 anda half hours, if you're lucky. Give many of us a
faster ride and an equitable fare, and the train would be our choice.

Thursday's announcement hardly left me clear on when that might happen, or how.

So I called Ben Sio, economic development director at the Greater
Syracuse Chamber of Commerce, who did not seem upset about the
way the money was distributed.

If anything, Sio was pleased that federal cash will build a much-needed second track to relieve "a bottleneck" between Albany and Schenectady.

"We shouldn't look at (these) as single projects," Sio said. "Anything we do (to improve the railroad) in Albany, Rochester and Buffalo will also benefit Syracuse."

The long-range goal, through expenditures that would total at least
$3 billion, is to increase the average speed of an Upstate passenger train
from 79 mph to 110 mph, the fastest a train can legally travel without
the need for more elaborate construction.

As for how long it will take before we’re actually riding on high-speed trains, Victoria Dillon - spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter of Monroe County - said it could happen in three to five years after whatever point "we're fully funded."

While no one can predict when that will happen, Slaughter is already looking for more money from the appropriations process, over the coming summer.

Once the rail line is finished, Sio said, the practical result would be a standard 4 hour and 30 minute train ride from Syracuse to New York - a ride that might be even faster on express trains that stopped only in Utica and Albany. If that's not quite the
lightning commute many of us imagined, Sio said the reward would be a quicker trip to Manhattan without the aggravation of air travel or parking.

"You walk in (from Syracuse) and walk out into the streets of NewYork," he said.

Assuming I'm not alone in my confusion, I'd offer a suggestion: Members of the coalition ought to have ready access to a detailed timeline that explains how each regional piece of the project will be prioritized, and then accomplished,as federal money is
released.